Method of generating digital ink thickness information

Abstract

A method and system that converts ballistic movement of a pen (e.g., movement of a pen point across a surface) into thickness information for digital ink data. The pen includes at least one accelerometer that is used to generate the ballistic information. A thickness conversion component may be located on a computer that is remote from the pen, and the ballistic information is transmitted to the computer via a hardwired or wireless connection. The accelerometer generates the ballistic information in the form of pulses, the width of which is directly related to the acceleration of the pen movements. The thickness conversion component converts the acceleration information, with or without additional information such as coordinate information, into thickness information for digital ink. This thickness information may be used to generate variably thick lines, which may be useful for a variety of applications, for example, better display and improved recognition.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates generally to digital ink, and more particularly to a method for generating digital ink information.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Digital ink technology enables a user to write and draw on the touch-sensitive screen of a handheld PC or other writing tablet with a stylus or other pointing device, providing a convenient means for applications to accept input from a user without using a keyboard. For a user, taking notes or drawing sketches with using digital ink technology is very much like writing or drawing on paper.[0003]Contemporary digital ink technology is capable of extracting a variety of information from a user's handwriting, including vector, timing, coordinates, angle of the stylus, and additional information. The digital ink information may be provided to an application, and may be used for many purposes, such as for handwriting recognition. The digital ink information may also be used for improving the way handwriting is...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]In one implementation of the invention, the thickness conversion component is located on a computer that is remote from the pen. In this implementation, the ballistic movement or tilt information is transmitted to the computer via a hardwired or wireless connection. For example, the accelerometer generates the ballistic movement or tilt information in the form of pulses, the width of each pulse being directly related to the acceleration of the pen movements or the

Problems solved by technology

Contemporary digital ink technology is not, however, effective in generating line thickness information.

However, the dynamic range of the pressure sensors in the writing tablets is limited, especially at the pressures at which people tend to write.

Thus, it has been found that the pressure differentiation information provided by the existing pressure sensors is not sufficient to provide line thickness information, especially for fountain pen simulation and font generation of Chinese characters.

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